Ever since smoking of cigars came into vogue a number of centuries ago, it has been found desirable to cut the end of the cigar which is inserted in the smoker's mouth for a brief distance axially in order to enable the smoker initially to draw air through the wrapped tobacco in order to light the opposite end, and thereafter, to draw the desired smoke axially through the cigar into the smoker's mouth.
In order to provide a suitable opening for this purpose, various instruments have been utilized to cut such an opening. These instruments have ranged from knives, including penknives, to sophisticated cutters that may cut off or even drill out a short axial opening. Drilling, however, can produce a ragged mouth-end for the cigar and, since one of the pleasures of cigar smoking is having a smooth cigar end inserted in the mouth, drilling and efforts to cut with a penknife have not been considered satisfactory.
Another type of cutter has been one that may have a cylindrical blade that slides out from a shield into the end of the cigar axially for a short distance to cut a plug that is removed upon withdrawal of the cylindrical cutter. The axial movement of the cutter, however, is usually accomplished through some type of thumb-actuated ram that operates against a spring, the purpose of which is to withdraw the cylindrical blade upon release of the thumb's force against the other end of the ram. While this type of cutter can be effective, at least initially, cutting becomes more difficult when the blade becomes duller, since the blade is simply forced axially against the tobacco packed inside the cigar wrapper. It has also been found that occasionally cutters driven by rams can damage the end of the cigar against which they are placed because of the force exerted by both the blade and its supporting element.
While other more sophisticated cutters have been devised, some of them have been quite complicated in construction and operation and quite expensive to manufacture, with the result that they may price themselves out of range of the average cigar smoker.
It has also been a concern of persons using certain of these cutters to avoid having the cutting blade scrape or dig into, the user's finger or thumb. Provision must be made, therefore, to shield a cutting blade to prevent possible injury either before, during, or after use of the cutter. In addition, recent airline regulations have severely restricted the transportation of many types of cutting devices aboard airplanes. As such, a cigar cutter that has a blade that does not extend outwardly above the top of its own cover is more likely to be approved for carrying on airlines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,763 issued to Conte is directed to a cigar punch and tobacco ejector apparatus comprising a housing having a cylindrical hollow body attached to a base and having an open circular end, and a cutter having a barrel connected to a handle and a slot formed on the barrel adjacent to the handle. The housing is for storing the cutter when not in use. The cutter has a sharp, open-mouthed edge adapted to receive a tip of a cigar, to cut a piece from the cigar, to form a hole in the cigar's tip, and to hold the cut piece when the cigar is moved away from the cutter. A plunger assembly is connected to the cutter. The plunger assembly has a plunger adapted to travel within the cutter's barrel, a collar adapted to being placed over the barrel and to be connected to the plunger through the barrel's slot. A dowel pin is used to connect the collar to the plunger through the slot. The collar slides along the barrel as the dowel pin moves along the slot, thereby allowing the plunger to eject the cigar's cut piece from the cutter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,318 issued to Morel, discloses an apparatus for severing predetermined lengths from a cigarette or cigar comprises a tubular passage that receives the cigarette or cigar to be cut, and a manually actuated blade positioned transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tubular passage and receivable there within for cutting the cigarette or cigar. The length of the cigarette or cigar receivable within the passage and severable by the blade may be varied by selectively positioning an adjustable end wall of the tubular passage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,254, issued to Fleisher et al. describes a cigar holder that consists of a thin cylindrical-shaped tube that can be inserted within a mouth of a smoker. The tube has a hollow punch extending centrally inwardly to pierce butt end of a cigar for allowing free drawing of smoke. The thin cylindrical-shaped tube can be chewed on without harm to teeth of the smoker. The tube is provided with an adapter for holding variously sized cigars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,682 issued to Halmaghi discloses a cigarette extinguishing and cigar cutting device mounted in the center of an ashtray which comprises a static base having a tapered top, a depressible stamper resiliently held above said base. Cigarettes may be snuffed out between the base and the depressed stamper. The cigar-cutting portion of the device is constituted by a horizontal hole cut through a section of the base intercepted by a vertical slot in which travels a blade fastened to the stamper.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs for cigar cutters are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a cigar tip cutter that produces a neat round orifice in the cigar end without tearing or damaging the cigar wrapper. It is a further objective to provide such capability in a compact and attractive package that is simple to use. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a cigar cutter that will protect its cutting blade from damage in the pocket of a user. It is yet a further objective to provide a cigar cutter that has a blade that does not extend beyond the limits of its enclosure.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.